


Silence

by thisisashittyusername



Category: El Nolibusterismo, Noli Me Tangere & Related Works - José Rizal
Genre: M/M, boat scene that wasnt actually in the book, damoves pa more, go elias stare into ibarras closed eyes, heeeey, heyyyy, i'd like to believe they go on more boat rides than what the book suggests, silence pa more, so close, still a better love story than twilight tho, thats creepy, those are eyelids bro, what, yes - Freeform, yes put that head on your shoulder elias, you guys are so fucking GAY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-17 16:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3535778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisashittyusername/pseuds/thisisashittyusername
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Wow, my writing style is so... NAH. This is probably what you get when you play a playlist of random genre songs. You tend to go mind-genre-jumping too. Anyway. Will fix whenever.</p><p>Anyway, I'm too much at odds with myself. On one hand, I think that their thing is somewhat fierce and mocking and mean. On the other hand though, there are times I think that they're tender with each other. MAN, I DON'T FUCKING KNOW ANYMORE.</p><p>Also, WILL NO ONE EVEN NOTICE THE TOTALLY CANON MOMENT THAT ELIAS HOLDS CRISOSTOMO'S HAND? WILL NO ONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THROUGH FIC OR FANART? I SWEAR TO GOD, PEOPLE, I WILL BRING THE APOCALYPSE INTO THE LAND OF THE FREE FILIPINOS IF I DON'T SEE FANART/FIC ABOUT THAT.</p><p>That's all. Enjoy. <3</p>
    </blockquote>





	Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, my writing style is so... NAH. This is probably what you get when you play a playlist of random genre songs. You tend to go mind-genre-jumping too. Anyway. Will fix whenever.
> 
> Anyway, I'm too much at odds with myself. On one hand, I think that their thing is somewhat fierce and mocking and mean. On the other hand though, there are times I think that they're tender with each other. MAN, I DON'T FUCKING KNOW ANYMORE.
> 
> Also, WILL NO ONE EVEN NOTICE THE TOTALLY CANON MOMENT THAT ELIAS HOLDS CRISOSTOMO'S HAND? WILL NO ONE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THROUGH FIC OR FANART? I SWEAR TO GOD, PEOPLE, I WILL BRING THE APOCALYPSE INTO THE LAND OF THE FREE FILIPINOS IF I DON'T SEE FANART/FIC ABOUT THAT.
> 
> That's all. Enjoy. <3

 

"-and Elias, look! This is the bamboo that did not burn. The one in my makeshift laboratory! Look, close-up, you'd see that-"

Ibarra strays his eyes away from the bamboo shoot he was holding. He glances at his boatman friend.

Elias was sitting across him, he notes, with his _salakot_ hanging behind him. He was watching Ibarra's animated hands silently.

 

"My friend, what's wrong?" Ibarra asks mid-lecture, laying the bamboo gently on the boat.

He approaches- more of crawls toward, considering the small space- Elias, and looks at him expectantly.

 

Elias stares back at him.

"Nothing is wrong, Senor."

There is slight confusion marked in his face, though he says nothing more.

 

"Then why do you seem so silent?" Ibarra asks again, sitting on his heels in front of Elias.

He prepares himself for a long story- maybe Elias would talk about what was on his mind, maybe something about him again, like his family.

Ibarra cannot help the way he leans in to listen interestedly.

 

"I was merely enjoying the silence. The peace." Elias answers simply.

 

Ibarra pouts at the limitedness of the boatman's answer.

He realizes, though, that while his friend was listening to the silence, he was busy blabbering foolishly about his damn bamboo _stick_ -

Ibarra cringes.

 

"I apologize, Elias. I'll..." he draws back slowly, picking up his bamboo stick.

He sits again across the man, though notably farther away.

 

"No, Senor, you do not have to be sorry about anything." Elias raises his hands in a non-threatening gesture.

 

"But I realize, my friend, I was too loud! I apologize for the way I may have disrupted your peace-"

Elias sees that Ibarra's eyebrows are scrunched up, and he feels he might've made the man guilty for something he shouldn't have.

Elias respects how the man has passion about these things, even if said passion clouded his sense of importance sometimes, but it should never be something he should apologize for, more so for talking about it _with him_ -

 

"On the contrary, Senor, the sound of your voice is part of my peace."

 

Ibarra's worried expression slowly fades as it starts registering to him what Elias just said.

 

The man concentrates his gaze at him then- probably the lack of answer on Ibarra's part told him that something was wrong.

It flusters the illustrado even more.

 

Why was he even flustered? This was his friend, _'susmariosep_ , and what exactly is so flustering about 'your voice is part of my peace'?

 

...Admittedly, the whole damn idea of it, but it wasn't like people's voices aren't naturally calming.

...No, it's not, Damaso is a testimony to that.

 

-but some people's voices are calming to Ibarra, it's perfectly normal, he reasons,

for example, Elias' voice was also very calm _ohmygod Crisostomo what are you thinking_ -

 

In an attempt to salvage the moment, Ibarra tries to respond.

His mind runs a million miles per second, thinking of the wittiest and most impressive response he may say to make this seem okay-

"Oh." He says dumbly.

_I want to hit his face on a chair._

 

That was Elias' hint.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to- I may have spoken out of line, I apologize- it was not my aim to-" he starts.

He tries to give a reasonable explanation as to why exactly he said that in that way. All he meant, anyway, was that Ibarra shouldn't be sorry for talking about his passion, that was it,

-that was just what he was supposed to let slip, not this, _certainly not what it implied, anyway,_ and look how the man took it, _damn it_ -

Elias also wants to hit his face on a chair.

 

Ibarra, meanwhile,- seeing Elias stutter and have a hard time expressing himself- was utterly in awe.

_He's just as flustered as I am._

 

As Elias still tries to verbally gather his thoughts together and group them into at least one coherent sentence, the two men's eyes meet.

Suddenly, he stops talking and the two look away from each other.

 

The silence is stifling.

 

Sometimes Ibarra would glance at him, only to see Elias was glancing at him too, and the two would look away again.

 

This would happen a few more times.

 

Ibarra decides then, to stop looking at Elias, so he focuses his eyes on the horizon instead.

He watches it with observant eyes- watches the way the colors blend in the sky, and how the water seemed to blend with it, no matter how unreachable.

 

Hours tick by him, and his eyes try to shut close.

He's tired, he acknowledges with a hidden yawn.

He peers out of the boat, propping his forearms on the boat's rim. He wills his eyes open; tries to enjoy the sight of the sun disappearing into the crystal horizon, but he cannot stop their droop.

 

It was simply too beautiful- the soft waves of the waters, the birds tweeting in the distance, the feel of the sun's rays grazing his cold skin-

 

It was as if his mind couldn't fathom the perfection held by this one moment; that's why he felt so damn sleepy...

 

With half-lidded eyes, this is when he realized that, yes, this was where his peace was- here, where he was surrounded by the calm, cold water, inside a boat, sitting across his friend; here, where the sun was shining despite its hiding, while still casting soft light on Elias' handsome face; here, where it was quiet, where you didn't have to say anything while saying _everything all at once_ -

 

 

Elias could have sworn he saw Ibarra looking at him, with his head tucked in the crook his arms made. Moving closer, though, he sees that the man had his eyes closed, his lips curled to a soft smile, dozing lightly. The man's head lunges forward suddenly, in a bout of imbalance, and Elias is quick in catching him. He decides, then, that his shoulder would be a steadier support for Ibarra's head than the boat.

With the illustrado against him, Elias strains his neck to look at him. He looks at the picture of innocence, right here, _this man-_

 

If he didn't believe in God, he would waste no time in calling this man perfect.

_Crisostomo Ibarra..._

 

He could almost cry at how the world seemed to hate on this person- naïve, innocent, _selfless Crisostomo-_

 

"Crisostomo." he lets the vowels roll on his tongue. He likes the way it sounds.

The man shifts in his sleep.

Maybe he liked it, too.

 

_Ah, what would the Senor think of you, if he knew you saw him this way, Elias?_

_He makes you too weak._

 

Elias sighs, reveling in he moment he is allowed to be vulnerable- even more so with this beautifully hopeful man beside him. He retracts his head and rests it against the boat's side. He closes his eyes, willing the sight of the setting sun, the feel of Ibarra's warmth, and the all-encompassing silence around him into his memory for the darker days to come.

 

He smiles despite the foreboding feeling in his gut. After all, this is where his peace was. 

It just hurt to know it wouldn't last forever.

 

It's quiet.

He looks down at Crisostomo's hand.

It's too close to his.

 

His fingers twitch.

 

_Someday._

 

* * *

 

 

He sees the fear in Crisostomo's eyes.

"Do not worry, I will be safe," he wants to say.

 

He doesn't, because he knows its not true.

 

All he can do now is hold his hand.

 

He tries to keep down so as to not get shot by the patrol, but he hesitates to jump when he feels Crisostomo's fingers curl around his own tightly.

 

He has to, though.

He jumps.

 

It is too noisy.

Too loud.

 

And suddenly,

the silence.

 


End file.
